Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said it was ironic that President Trump, who received draft deferments during the Vietnam War, is now leading the effort in trying to start a war with Iran, drawing on comparisons from the political atmosphere before the United States went to war against Iraq in 2003.
Moulton, who is also a Democratic candidate for president and had served in the Marine Corps infantry, made his comments on Wednesday as tensions escalate between the U.S. and Iran.
“And it’s just frightening how similar this roll-up to war with Iran is to what happened with the roll-up to war in Iraq,” Moulton told CNN. “You have — back then we had Dick Cheney and John Bolton pushing George W. Bush, a president who had no idea what fighting on the ground, what combat is actually like, into a disastrous war in Iraq.
“Today, we have John Bolton back in that same role, pushing Donald Trump, a president who dodged the draft, who lied about his feet to get out of serving in combat himself, into a war with an even more dangerous adversary,” he said.
[Also read: 2020 Democrat Seth Moulton: ‘America is not a socialist country’]
Moulton pointed out the authorization that was used to invade Iraq after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, would be older than the troops Trump would be deploying to fight Iran.
The U.S. has maintained Iran’s proxy forces in the region are becoming an increasing threat to the U.S. and its allies.
